Susan D'Elia Speech 214: The Rhetoric of Reggae Music Spring 2002

4829 Words10 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How women are portrayed in dancehall music

Susan D'Elia Speech 214: The Rhetoric of Reggae Music Spring 2002

Women’s Fashion in Jamaican Dancehalls

“A woman has to use what she’s got to get just what she want.” -- James Brown

Actress Audrey Reid does just that as the character Marcia in the Jamaican film “Dancehall Queen.” Reid plays a street vendor and single mother of two daughters struggling to give her family a better life. Poverty stricken, Marcia is forced to rely on her sugar daddy “Larry,” to feed her family and put her daughters through school. Unfortunately the price to pay is her fifteen-year-old daughter’s virginity. Appalled at how low they must stoop just to get by, Marcia decides to transform herself into a seductive dancehall girl in hopes of finding an alternative way to provide for her family. The new Marcia makes quite an impression on the men of the Kingston nightclub. When she is disguised in her dancehall costume Larry falls in love with her and showers her with expensive gifts. She is also invited to compete in a profitable dance-off against the reigning Dancehall Queen. The film ends with Marcia’s triumph, and she is awarded a large sum of money.

Although this film is a highly romanticized story of a single mother rising to the title of “Dancehall Queen,” it gives an accurate portrait of the atmosphere of a Jamaican dancehall, as well as capturing the independent, strong spirit of Jamaican women. “Too many young girls in Jamaica feel trapped by dirty old men who convince them that life offers no alternatives but a future in bed with them,” explains the film’s writer and editor Suzanne Fenn. “The sub-plot in “Dancehall Queen” might be unpalatable but it’s based on a prevalent reality.”

Although the film has endured some criticism, the film’s after-after party at Kingston’s Club Mirage proved that Dancehall Queen isn’t “the invention of a perverted production team in search of celluloid satisfaction. Real-life dancehall queens stroked their crotches, winded their hips and rubbed their well-oiled buttocks” (St. Hill).

“Although the dancehall scene is a male dominated one, it is the female, like a queen, who reigns supreme” (www.ppreggae.com) Covering reggae history, respectively, “Reggae Songbirds” and “Dancehall Queens” offer a fairly comprehensive overview of the contributions of women in reggae. The dancehall has become a form of a message center for Jamaican people, no matter where they are within the social structure of the island.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros and Cons of Fracking

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today's global economy, energy is one of the most crucial and sought after commodities. Who supplies it and how much they supply determines how much influence they have over other countries as well as the global economy. This is why hydraulic fracturing is currently such an important and controversial topic in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking" or hydrofracturing, is the process of using pressurized liquids to fracture rocks and release hydrocarbons such as shale gas, which burns more efficiently than coal. This booming process of energy production provides a much needed economic boost, creating jobs and providing gas energy for Americans. The efficiently burning shale gas reduces carbon emission from electricity production plants, reducing carbon footprints on the environment. However, the process of hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of pressurized liquid, which contains toxic chemicals, and some of this water is left over undealt with. The air near fracking sites is often also polluted and unsafe for nearby community residents. Injecting millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals into the rock thousands of feet deep can cause earthquakes, causing a safety hazards for all nearby areas. Hydraulic Fracturing makes rare natural gases easily attainable, boosting the economy and reducing carbon emissions. However, the negative side effects such as contaminated water and air, make hydraulic fracturing a process that may not be worth the benefits.

    Read More

  • All Black Everything: Analyzing African Influence throughout Puerto Rican Music

    1991 Words  | 4 Pages

    Marcus Garvey once said, “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness,” exemplifying not only that the African blood that flows through our veins is indeed wonderful, but is more a national treasure than a national tragedy. Countries across the world, in some form have been altered by the touch of the African influence whether that is socially and/or culturally. The same fate lies with the islands of the Caribbean, especially the island of Puerto Rico located in the Greater Antilles. Of all the African influential branches, Puerto Rican music would be one social phenomenon to be ultimately shaped and modified by African influence directly. Beginning with the African slaves, this paper covers the musically genres created over time containing West African elements, as well as covering the ways in which the Puerto Rican society influenced the music as well as how the music effected the society. This paper will also include the ways in which African descendants in Puerto Rico [musicians] would rise to fame despite existing in an era of open racism. Ultimately, explaining how the music and the people go hand in hand.

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Hip Hop

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    When looking at the landscape of Hip-Hop among African Americans, from the spawn of gangsta rap in the mid 1980s to current day, masculinity and an idea of hardness is central to their image and performance. Stereotypical to Black masculinity, the idea of a strong Black male - one who keeps it real, and is defiant to the point of violence - is prevalent in the genre. This resistant, or even compensatory masculinity, encompasses: the hyper masculinity rife in the Western world, misogyny, and homophobia, all noticeable in their lyrics, which is in part a result of their containment within the Black community. The link of masculinity and rap music was established due to this containment, early innovators remaking public spaces in their segregated neighbourhoods. A notion of authentic masculinity arose from the resistant nature of the genre, but the move to the mainstream in the 90s created a contradiction to their very image - resistance. Ultimately, this in part led to the construction of the masculinity defined earlier, one that prides itself on its authenticity. I’ll be exploring how gender is constructed and performed in Hip Hop, beginning with a historical framework, with the caveat of showing that differing masculine identities in the genre, including artists

    Read More

  • REGGAE AND ZYDECO

    3174 Words  | 7 Pages

    If one were to look back into the world’s history, one would find that an important and consistent element is the world of music. Music has presented itself in various forms throughout its spread and through our identification of its magical realm, people have been fortunate enough to come across a means of relation. Whether it is blues and reggae or rap and pop rock, there is music out there for everyone. Music can serve as a stabilizer for some, a relaxant to others, and to many a form of inspiration.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Joan Morgan From Fly Girls To Bits And Hos

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “ From Fly to Bitches and Hoes” by Joan Morgan, she often speaks about the positive and negative ideas associated with hip-hop music. Black men display their manhood with full on violence, crime, hidden guilt, and secret escapes through drugs and alcohol. Joan Morgan’s article views the root causes of the advantage of misogyny in rap music lyrics. In the beginning of the incitement her desires shift to focus on from rap culture condemnation to a deeper analysis of the root causes. She shows the hidden causes of unpleasant sexism in rap music and argues that we need to look deeper into understanding misogyny. I agree with Joan Morgan with the stance that black men show their emotions in a different way that is seen a different perspective.

    Read More

  • Hip-Hop: A Voice for the Chican@-Latin@ Community

    2213 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the words of rapper Busta Rhymes, “hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It’s a platform where we could offer information, but it’s also an escape” Hip-hop is a culture that emerged from the Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s. Hip-Hop was a result of African American and Latino youth redirecting their hardships brought by marginalization from society to creativity in the forms of MCing, DJing, aerosol art, and breakdancing. Hip-hop serves as a vehicle for empowerment while transcending borders, skin color, and age. However, the paper will focus on hip-hop from the Chican@-Latin@ population in the United States. In the face of oppression, the Chican@-Latin@ population utilized hip hop music as a means to voice the community’s various issues, desires, and in the process empower its people.

    Read More

  • The Palestine Liberation Organization

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book's opening chapters describe the founding of the PLO. In 1964, a meeting held in East Jerusalem was attended by 400 delegates. This meeting was ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Hip-Hops Betrayal On Black Women

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    Will sexism ever come to an end in today’s society? Are women going to let men step all over them? Jennifer Mclune discusses in her article, Hip-Hops Betrayal on Black Women, how black male singers objectify and degrade black females in the music industry. The purpose of this article is to show how black women are being deceived in the hip hop industry and being used as sex symbols instead of showing them for their true colors. Mclune (2015) voices her strong argument in attracting her audience by using ethos, tones, and the use of word choices.

    Read More

  • The History Of Hip Hop Culture

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    The cultural theory helps expand the knowledge of “hip hop” as an idea and influence on society. Mark Anthony Neal discusses the development of the understanding of hip hop by dissecting the layers and complexities of the culture, “Hip-hop music and culture emerged as a narrative and stylistic distillation of African-American youth sensibilities in the late 1970s,” within What the Music Said (Woldu 18). Urban history is a large, yet vital characteristic throughout the study of hip hop and its progression; Russell Potter shows how critical the representation of black musical expression and the “history of vernacular speech” is for the hip hop community in his book, Spectacular Vernaculars (Woldu 19). As decades pass and the hip hop scene expands, the history of this culture becomes influenced by more historical movements and creations. However, that is not the only historical significance that runs deep within the hip hop culture. The history and influence of the black feminist movement within the hip hop scene became a demanding characteristic in the development of the hip hop culture. As the gender divide became an evident aspect through the hip hop generation, women, especially female rappers,

    Read More

  • Effects of Divorce on a Child

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    When a couple with a child chooses to get a divorce this can have major impact on a child at any age. There are many causes of stress throughout the divorce process that can negatively affect children. First, negative reactions and behaviors are dependent upon the situation before the divorce. Some studies show that how much parents fight, how it is done, how it is resolved, and what precautions are taken to protect the children from it's effects are the most important predictors of child adjustment (Kelly, 2000). Meaning that if children are exposed to fights about custody, money, or the failing marriage they could feel the repercussions of their parents conflict. Next, divorce can cause children to have heightened fear...

    Read More

  • Harmony and Howling — African and European Roots of Jamaican Music

    3771 Words  | 8 Pages

    The exploitation and eventually liberation of the Jamaican people have produced a very unique social condition. Reggae music is an optimistic answer to the history of oppression that draws upon the past, and uses it as a resource. In order for there to be a good future, the past must be considered and accepted. There is no way to right the wrongs of Jamaican history, but there is a way to promote awareness of these wrongs.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Fracking

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fracking has become a highly controversial and publicized topic due to rising concerns and growing analysis into the mutual benefits of hydraulic fracturing to retrieve natural gas and oil reserves. With concerns of water pollution, mismanagement of toxic waste and irreversible

    Read More

  • The Exploitation and Objectification of Women in Rap

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    The oppressive picture displaying the sexual objectification of women that most hip-hop artists paint while rapping can only be described as appalling. Many artists imply that a woman?s sole purpose is to gratify a man?s every sexual desire. For instance, ?Nelly?s ?Tip Drill? goes as far to portray scantily clad women as sexual appliances? (Weisstuch). Though Nelly is relatively mild when contrasted to other hip-hop artists, his actualization of women cannot be ignored. By calling women ?sexual appliances,? Nelly essentially promotes the idea that it is customary to view all women solely as sexual objects. Moreover, the generic ?sex appe...

    Read More

  • qweqweqwe

    1816 Words  | 4 Pages

    The absence of a complete identity and the inability be whole is what creates a line between The Love song of J Alfred Prufrock with Eliot’s other poems The Hollow Men and Portrait of a Lady. These poems work together using imagery and characters to highlight the darkness that was weighting down most people after the First World War was finished.

    Read More

  • Music in the Caribbean

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stanley-Niaah, Sonjah Nadine. "Dancehall: From Slave Ship to Ghetto." 1-17. Canada: University of Ottawa Press, 2010.

    Read More

More about Susan D'Elia Speech 214: The Rhetoric of Reggae Music Spring 2002

Open Document